$1bn Swiss hedge fund faces liquidation

By

William Hutchings and

Stephanie Baum in New York

Updated: March 5, 2008 9:36 p.m. GMT

The partners of Focus Capital, a Swiss/US hedge fund manager whose assets under management were last month valued at $1bn (Ã¢ÂÂ¬660m), are considering liquidation after heavy losses in its Swiss mid-cap equity investments.

The scale of the losses, which the firm has yet to finalise, are likely to be among the largest recorded by a European hedge fund manager, although less than the $2bn loss registered last week by UK manager Peloton Partners on its Asset-Backed Securities fund. Jacob Schmidt, chief executive of...